Guinea’s World Cup qualifier against Morocco has been
postponed after the country saw an army colonel seize control of the state
television and saying that the government had been dissolved on Sunday.

The West African nation was due to host Morocco in the
capital of Conakry on Monday. African football body has not given any new date
for the fixture.

According to a statement by the Confederation of African
Football, the postponement was “to ensure the safety and security of all
players and to protect all match officials”, the Associated Press
reported.

There were hours of heavy gunfire near the presidential
palace in Conakry on Sunday in developments that bore all the hallmarks of a
coup d’etat.

“The current political and security situation in Guinea
is quite volatile and is being closely monitored by FIFA and CAF,” the
governing bodies said in a statement quoted by AP.

An elite unit of the Guinean army has declared that President Alpha Conde’s government had been dissolved and the West African nation’s borders closed.

Earlier in the day, heavy gunfirewas reported near the presidential palace in Guinea’s capital for hours, blamed by the Defense Ministry on a “group of assailants.”

The presidential guard and other security forces had “contained the threat” and security and sweeping operations were underway to restore order and peace, the ministry said.

The coastal nation, formerly known as French Guinea, has a long history of military power grabs and coup attempts. The mutinous soldiers on Sunday seized control of state television and declared that ‘

The National Committee of Gathering and Development’ was going to restore democracy in the country. Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, a former French legionnaire leading the elite national army unit behind the unrest, was seen draped in a Guinean flag alongside soldiers as he vowed to “save the country.”